Visits

Quick Tip for Future Office Seekers: Vote!

One of the easiest things to check into and then use as political ammunition is your opponent’s voting record (or lack thereof). I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that issue come up over the years, but it’s been quite a bit. It usually is brought up in smaller races, but ever so often a candidate for larger office is caught having not voted in numerous previous contests. That’s exactly what came out recently about Republican candidate for California governor, Meg Whitman. Whitman, the former eBay CEO, was discovered to have not voted “over several decades in five states where [she] has lived since 1979.” Nice. Of course, this is such a simple thing to use against her throughout the campaign, and one of her opponents didn’t waste much time. Steve Poizner (who are these people, by the way?) said, “in the history of America, no one has been elected governor of a state with Meg Whitman’s 25 year history of no show voting.” Ouch. Yeah, this just re-establishes the fact that Whitman is just a rich woman with no political experience (and no previous political interests, for that matter) trying to buy her way into the governor’s office. It definitely isn’t a new concept in California! Here’s part of Whitman’s statement:

“Voting is a precious right that all Americans should exercise. I have repeatedly said that my voting record is inexcusable. I failed to register and vote on numerous occasions throughout my life. That is simply wrong and I have taken responsibility for my mistake.” said Whitman in her statement.

Well, if she’s said it repeatedly, then I’m sure CA voters will forgive her! I don’t really get what “taking responsibility” means, though. How does one take responsibility for not voting in the past? I’ve acknowledged my indiscretions and I reeeallly promise to vote in every single election from now on, no matter how insignificant it may be! I’ll even vote more than once to make up for the times I didn’t vote! Who knows.

As a quick sidenote on the current state of the race, Jerry Brown seems to be well-positioned against all three current Republicans in the race, while his primary opponent, Gavin Newsom, isn’t as strong. You can see a collection of the recent head-to-head polls here.